


The Love Letter

by armoiise



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:07:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23562061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/armoiise/pseuds/armoiise
Summary: Only seven days to make wonders. - Atem struggles to find a way to open up to Mana, whereas Mana needs to decide what is more important: her friendship, or her own feelings?
Relationships: Atem/Mana (Yu-Gi-Oh)
Kudos: 5





	1. Monday

Had he heard that correctly?

Was this really... happening?

"Atem?" Her soft voice brought him back.

"Huh?"

She smiled at his lost face. "I mean, it's okay if you would like to go somewhere else, I just couldn't think of-"

"No! Uh... I mean no, my house is fine. We can do the project there. I think we have some spare crafting sheets and highlighting pencils... Or we could always run to the shop."

"Okay, we'll stop by the supply store, then head for the Game Shop. Does that work for you?" She tilted her head and tapped her cheek. The gesture made her look even cuter, as opposed to the thought of he simply couldn't be even more in love.

Atem nodded, his hand itching to wave off her hand that poked her smooth face, making it look squishy.

"Great!" Mana squealed and her shoulders rose as she talked. The tip of her pink tongue slipped out and she wet her upper lip, Atem shuddered. He probably would have missed it if he wasn't so openly staring at her mouth. "So it's settled. Tomorrow, game shop."

Atem nodded again. If he hadn't been sure that she didn't respond to his feelings, he would have guessed that Mana was teasing him. Her movements had been tempting. "I'll see you later, then," he said to her with a shaky voice.

"You  _ will _ see me, Moto." she wagged her finger at him playfully, and her gaze found her friend waiting for her just behind him. "Oh, there's Miho! I should go now. Bye!"

Mana rushed to Miho's side, waving at him without turning to face him. Miho and Atem's gazes met for a second, then the girl wrapped her arm around Mana's shoulders and they started walking to the other way.

Atem walked as well, to the opposite direction where the cafeteria was. Though his face was neutral, the faintest blush rose to his cheeks.

He couldn't believe his ears when the teacher paired them as partners for the project. That moment when his new partner turned around to smile at him upon hearing it never left his mind. How her friendly smile made his insides squeeze, and his blood to rush to his face.

The tint of pink on his cheeks and neck didn't go unnoticed by his friends, however, much to his dismay.

"Atem is all red again; Mana must be around!" the blond yelled out and smiled sheepishly when Atem bumped their shoulders as he sat down.

"I don't think the whole school heard it clearly while you were yelling Joey, why don't you scream louder so that everyone can hear?" Atem asked, his eyes narrowed.

"You're just asking for it though, look at your face! What happened this time? Did she walk past you or somethin'? Were you in the same room with her?"

"Don't exaggerate it." Atem rolled his eyes and leaned back, folding his arms.

"Your mouth waters at the sight of her; I don't think Joey is the one exaggerating here." Yugi piped up, earning a crackle from the blond.

"Like how his drools at the sight of a certain blonde?" Atem gave a side glance at him, "I thought so."

"Don't put this on me, you creep. You're the one who followed Mana all the way through the mall that day when we randomly saw her. "

"Right, and I'm the one who searches Mai's duels on the internet all night. Yeah, that's right, search history shows the hours too."

"That's practice," Joey told them. "I... study dueling techniques when I can't go to sleep."

Atem scoffed, "Is that what you call 'trying to look up Mai's skirt' now?"

"Excuse me, what?"

The boys froze and Yugi mouthed them to stay silent while motioning the girl to come closer.

"Hey Tea! We were starting to wonder why you were taking so long." He moved a bit to the side so she could sit next to him.

Tea placed her tray on the table, sat down and eyed the two boys in front of him. "What were you guys arguing about anyway?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, nothing much! Atem apparently got to talk to Mana for a fraction of a second and that's our topic for the next five hours. How's your day going?" Joey piped up, earning a chuckle from Yugi.

"Really?" Tea seemed interested more than ever. She would often encourage him to talk to her, but since she mostly advised him to just give it time, the boys were not used to her being eager to listen to Atem while he talked about Mana nonstop. "What did you talk about?"

"No, don't do that! Do you want to hear about Mana all day? Don't encourage this behavior!" Joey protested while cackling. Although he was rooting for his friend, he did mess with him a little.

Atem rolled his eyes at him. "I don't do that, okay?" He then looked at Tea. "The teacher matched us for a project, we were talking about where we should do it."

Tea let out an interested noise, then smiled. "Alright, so here's the thing. On my way here, I saw Mana and one of her friends- what was her name? Oh, right, Miho. They were whispering to each other, Miho was giggling the whole time... Anyway, just as I'm walking past them, Miho left and Mana called for me. Guess what she asked me."

Atem, captivated by her story, nodded for her to continue. "What? What did she say?"

"She asked me if you were seeing anyone. I told her that you didn't and that if she wanted to she could shoot her shot. She turned bright red, mumbled something and then ran off. I didn't understand what she exactly said but by her body gestures and obvious blush, I say that she's into you."

"Are you serious?!" Atem was in a frenzy, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Tea was really good at reading people and if this was true, then Mana might actually have some feelings for him after all.

"Well, kind of. I don't know whether if she's head over heels in love with you or anything but there's something there. Like, it would be really easy to make her fall for you if you try a little."

A small smile found its way on Atem's lips. That was more than enough for him.

He had known Mana for a long time. They had been in the same class in eighth grade and had become good friends. Before then, he didn't even know what her name was. But during that one year of being classmates, she had stolen his heart.

Now, they had some classes together and talked here and there. He was growing farther away from her and their conversations were getting shorter, to his dismay. It was not Mana's doing, it was just hard to form proper sentences while talking to her, and Atem was nervous about saying something stupid and ruining the short time they had.

"Looks like you got lucky," Yugi added shortly.

Atem stared blankly for a while, then looked up at Yugi. "If I'm lucky I'll be able to form actual sentences." At the disapproving faces of his friends he sighed. "Okay, okay. I'll try."

Besides, how hard could it be when she supposedly liked him too?


	2. Tuesday

"Miho... I don't know about this. There are plenty of other ways. It seems kind of cheesy. And awkward." Mana pondered and observed the red envelope in her hand. "Are you sure?"

Miho smiled a big one. "Yes! Didn't Tea say that he's single? And ready to mingle?" she said winking. "Just give it to him and don't worry about the rest!"

A frown appeared on Mana's face, but Miho was too distracted by her daydreams to notice.

* * *

Tapping her feet against the wall and leaning back, Mana looked at the crowd that was walking out of the school building. Her eyes were searching for Atem, but her mind was on the letter in her backpack.

The thought of giving the letter to Atem made her nauseous. It was just a letter. A paper with some words on it. The only thing she needed to do was to simply give the envelope to him. It would be out of her hands and out of her responsibility. Just grab the thing from your bag, and pass it to Atem. No brainer. Simple as that.

Speaking of him, he was just stepping out of the building; Mana waved to signal him and jumped down from the wall. He said something to his friends, then walked towards Mana. He was smiling, Mana returned the gesture.

"I hope I didn't make you wait for too long."

"No, I just came out too," she answered shortly, then gestured him to walk with her. "Are we going to stop by a store, or...?"

"I bought as many crafting papers as you will need yesterday, don't worry. And we have pens. I think we're good." he said, flashing her a quick smile. "Then again, maybe you should check the supplies. I'm not that good at arts and crafts. Tell me if you need anything else, I'll go and buy it."

Mana gave a side glance at him, and he immediately looked away. He was a tad taller than her, so when he turned his face away from her she couldn't see him, but there was definitely a tint on his ears. He was always like that.

Talking with Atem was enjoyable, he was careful with his words, really listened to what she had to say, shared the same opinions with her most of the time... The only downside of him was that he didn't like to talk. When he did, he kept it short. Which was a shame. They would be having a nice time, then out of nowhere, he would end the conversation; saying that he needed to get the class or he had promised someone he would meet them. Mana doubted it almost every time, but never blamed him.

There was only one thing that Mana wanted from him. And that was to be one of his friends. Not someone that he would smile and wave when he walked past her, but someone he would want to spend time with her just for the sake of being with her. They were so close when they had first met, before Atem started to distance himself. Mana wanted what they had before.

Oh, no, she didn't like him. Mana didn't like him, why would she like him? Where did that come from? She just wanted to be his friend.

But she didn't like him. Not like that.

Mana looked at him one more time. He was calm, walking steady, eyes glued to the direction he's walking towards.

Mana. Didn't. Like. Him.

And even if she did...

She averted her eyes and kept on walking, looking ahead.

* * *

Their project was a simple one; making a poster of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Atem set the laptop on the coffee table, while Mana searched her bag for a notebook and her pencil case.

"What would you like to drink?" he asked, standing up.

"Water is fine, thank you," mumbled Mana as she turned to him, pulling out her notebook.

Atem brought a tray of drinks and snacks, and sat down next to her, before deciding he was too close and scooted away.

Mana sighed, it was hopeless. He couldn't even sit properly with her. She was hoping she could get him to open up a little bit when they were studying together, but he didn't seem interested.

She shook her head and focused on the task at hand. "So... I'll write about Giza, the Temple of Artemis and Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Is that alright with you?"

"Yes." he simply answered, his eyes not even wavering from the screen. Another long sigh escaped her lips.

Mana's phone made a beeping sound, signaling that she received a message. "Sorry, I forgot to silence it." She reached for it and saw that it was from Miho.

"Not a problem. Um, you can go to my room if you need to have a private conversation." Atem said, this time finally looking at her, a small smile sat on his lips.

Was it... cute? No, no.

Mana shook her head. It was only cute by normal standards, it wasn't that she thought it was cute.

Shut up.

"Just a message," she said sheepishly, and read the text.

- _ did u give it yet? _

Mana's face fell, and she didn't reply. Putting her phone aside, she pulled her bag to her lap. But the letter was nowhere to be found. She checked the pockets, between her books, inside of her binder but it wasn't in her bag.

"What are you looking for? I can give you one if we have it here?" Atem offered, but this was not something he could give her.

"It's... nothing. It's not important. I probably left it at the school." she mumbled and threw her bag aside. "Let's just start writing. If we finish this today we'll only do the arranging it on the poster tomorrow."

Atem didn't argue and opened up a website about the ancient wonders. Meanwhile, Mana picked up her phone and texted Miho.

- _ I don't have it with me, I think I left it at my desk :(( I'll give it tomorrow xo _

She silenced her phone and set it aside.


	3. Wednesday

It was a game night for the Muto twins, a thing that they did once a week to blow off some steam.

Yugi put the game's box aside and grabbed the controller. "Did something happen with Mana today?"

"Why do you ask?" Plopping a pillow behind his back, Atem looked at him strangely.

"You have a project to finish, and a due date that's closing in. I figured she would be here today."

"She told me they were having guests over at her house and her brother asked her to stay. Besides, we did all the writing work yesterday. We still have plenty of time to do the rest." Atem said shrugging.

"Are you sure you're going to be able to write a presenting speech, a poster and a digital presentation in four days?" Yugi's voice was skeptical.

Atem only nodded and started the game. "I'm not doing it by myself you know. I have Mana with me." Saying that put a warm smile on his face.

Yesterday had been fun with Mana. They had sat next to each other really close, their foot and elbows bumped into each other constantly, he had got to hear the cute noise she let out when she was thinking of something or when she was concentrated... He wasn't sure if she enjoyed it, but to Atem, that was an unforgettable evening.

"If you say so," Yugi said before chuckling. "By the way, gramps is going to be cross with you if you don't clean up after yourself."

"What? I did clean up- what?" Atem looked behind him, at the coffee table which was spotless.

"There are crafting papers all over the place. On the kitchen counters, in my bed, under that couch..." Yugi pointed for Atem to see. "See, there's even one right here."

Yugi got a hold of the red piece of paper that was sticking out and pulled it towards them, only to realize it wasn't a piece of paper.

Both he and Atem stood amazed at the sight of a red envelope that had Atem's name on it.

"That's... Is this from Mana?" Yugi asked quietly before Atem snatched it from his hand.

"It must have fallen off the table or something," he mumbled to himself, his eyes going over his own name that Mana had written in cursive writing. "Should we open it?"

Yugi said shrugging, "It has your name on it."

They stood motionless as the song of the video game filled the room, the video game itself forgotten.

Atem evened his breathing and carefully opened the envelope. His heartbeat getting rapid as the seconds passed. He pulled the paper inside out and bit his lip when his eyes scanned her letter.

"I'm gonna go to my room for a second." Atem jumped up to his feet. "You don't mind if I read it alone, right?"

"Go ahead," said Yugi and started the game himself. The rushing footsteps of his brother made him smile.

When he got to his room, Atem was quick to get to reading, that he didn't even spend time to find a place to sit.

_ "I know this shows how much of a coward I can be but how am I supposed to reach out to you when you have girls fawning over you everywhere you go? How am I supposed to have your attention, win your heart? Who cares if I'm pretty if that someone isn't you? _

_ Watching you from afar as you enjoy your time without me, seeing someone else make you smile is enough to shatter my heart. I want to be the cause of your joy, the reason you smile when you wake up, the excitement you feel whenever someone talks about love. _

_ Your loyal friendship meant so much to me until it became something else in my eyes and I couldn't see you the same way anymore. But now it feels like I'm losing that too, it breaks my heart. _

_ Give me a chance to prove my worth. _

_ -M" _

His lips trembling, Atem gawked at the love confession of his crush. He blinked once or twice, not believing his own eyes.

This was Mana's love confession to him! He dared to hope that one day she would love him but was never expecting this. Not this easy, not this fast. But who was he to judge? He never let Mana know how he felt so he was quite sure she didn't know the feelings he had for her. It could be the same as Mana.

Then suddenly, it hit him. "No!" Atem whined and finally threw himself on his chair. This explained why she didn't want to come to his house! She had left the note and like the dork he was, he hadn't even seen it. Mana probably thought he ignored it and that was why she didn't want to work on the project today. "I didn't know..."

He had to make up for it tomorrow when he would see her. And the best way to that was to ask Tea for advice.

"Yugi!" he called out his name, standing up. "Call Tea, she needs to get here, now!" He got out of his room to show the letter to his brother, holding the paper gently as if it was Mana's own hand.


	4. Thursday

The fluorescent lights of the classroom flickered opened as Mana moved sluggishly to her desk, now regretting going to sleep later than usual. She was not used to staying up too late and she didn't understand how other people could do it. Every part of her was begging for some rest.

Putting her head down on her desk, she waited for the class to start. The first lesson was biology and her desk mate was always late. This made it easier to slouch on both of the chairs and Mana was particularly happy about it this morning.

Much to her dismay, someone's shadow cast on her and she was disrupted from almost falling asleep. "Mana?"

She let out a gruntled voice and raised her head to see Atem. All of a sudden her squinted eyes fluttered open and she straightened. "Hey... good morning!" she managed to say sheepishly.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked with a gentle voice, touching the side of her arm. He seemed to be concerned about her, it was enough to make her blush.

"Yes, I'm just tired, that's all."

"I'm not used to seeing you draped on your desk in the morning, I feared that something was wrong," he told her before walking around the desk and putting his backpack next to hers. "You won't mind if I sit next to you today, right?"

Mana shook her head, "I won't, but it's Senku's seat so-"

He waved her off as he sat down. "We both know he's going to miss the first period. We'll be fine."

There was something different with Atem that Mana couldn't put her finger on. She was taken aback by his sudden appearance. Atem was never the one to come talk to her. He would never turn his back to her either but coming to her to have a conversation was not like him. And here he was now, sitting next to her by his own will (Mana hoped), taking his stuff out of his backpack.

"Sorry for not coming yesterday. It would've been better if we worked on the homework. I hope we won't be late." Mana murmured and laid her head back on the desk.

"Well, you better come with me today then. We wouldn't want to fail, right?" he said as he put his head as well, locking eyes with her, "Actually, I think a change of scenery might boost our productivity."

"You mean like... my house?"

"No, I mean like somewhere I can treat you with a dessert. If there's a coffee shop you like, we can study there today." Atem offered, then quickly averted his eyes. "I mean... only if you want to. We don't have to. I just had an idea, thought you might want to hear it, I don't know. We can go to your house too if that's what you want- I really don't mind!" He blurted out, now getting flustered.

Mana studied his face, getting a different vibe from him. He had gone confident to shy in mere seconds. Atem was having personality swings right in front of her and Mana honestly wasn't sure to be whether worried or amused.

"I would never turn down a chance to have some dessert. That is a really good idea." Mana agreed and couldn't help but smile when the worry on his face gave its place to a content one. "But, I was thinking of doing the poster today and trying to do it in a public place is not ideal."

"Right..." he murmured, looking away. His eyes were fixated on something, and Mana could definitely see him pouting.

He was thinking of something that could work out both ways. Mana had to admit that he was looking kind of cute-

_ Wait! No! Atem is not cute! Not the slightest! Babies and kittens are cute. This flustered high school boy is everything but cute. _

Shaking her head, Mana tried to distract herself. She didn't want to further complicate matters. Not for herself, not for Atem and certainly not for Miho.

_ Miho... _

"Would this be like a date?"

The words escaped her mouth, though a little embarrassed she wanted to know. Atem was caught off guard as well, he looked her, bewildered.

"It doesn't have to be," he said, then cleared his throat. "I mean, the main idea was to study there but... I-I guess we could..." he stammered, trying to collect his thoughts. "It's fine, really. We don't have to label it."

"It's fine by me too." Mana managed to say, lowering her voice at the end.

Was he trying to ask her out? Would this be a date? Or was he just really kind and offered to study somewhere else? She didn't have answers, and clearly neither did Atem. Only questions.

"You- you are?" Her answer helped Atem shake off his anxiety, and he was back to being confident once more. "I mean, yes, you are, you just told me. That's great, I've been meaning to spend more time with you." Mana then noticed the tips of his ears glowing red. "You know, to get to know you."

Mana bit the inside of her cheek. "Me too."

_ Sorry, Miho. _

_ Just this one time. _

_ I will be selfish. _

"I had fun working with you on the summaries. We make a good team." he dared to add. It was obvious to Mana that he said that out loud with much effort.

"We really do!"

_ Just imagine... how much we would get along as friends. _

_ And maybe... _


	5. Friday

Atem was sure that he had used all of his luck that week but didn't regret it. After all; the girl he was pining after for years liked him back, they had been on a date of some sort, and they were spending a lot of time together because of the homework. He was the luckiest guy in the world!

His eyes flickered to her, she was busy sticking pictures to colorful papers and cutting them together. Her hands moved fast and careful, she was like an expert! Of course, Atem wasn't even half as good when it came to art, so everything Mana could do with just a paper and scissors amazed at him.

She was mumbling the lyrics of a song Atem had heard before, bopping her head with its rhythm. Half an hour ago the TV in his room was open, but once he heard her quiet voice he had silenced the device to listen to Mana. So far she had yet to notice this.

Shaking his head, Atem tried to focus on the presentation speech he was writing for both of them before yesterday came to his mind.

Both had awkwardly agreed to not put a name on whatever that was. They had simply walked to a cafe and talked about anything. No studying was involved, they had distracted each other with different topics that came to their minds. Eating dessert and chatting was all they had done, it was casual and relaxing. Atem had walked her to her house, earning an appreciated hug from Mana. His heart had not stopped beating rapidly since.

Though, he wondered why she never talked about the letter she gave him. Going by Tea's advice, he had taken her out to a different setting so they could talk. And they had talked about everything except the letter and her supposed crush. Was she shy? Embarrassed?

He was waiting for her to talk about it first, he believed Mana would be more comfortable that way. But there was a chance that she was doing the same thing.

He took a deep breath and shut his eyes. Overthinking was one of his bad habits, and it had done nothing good in his entire life.

"Hey, do we have papers with other colors?" Mana piped up. "I'm getting bored with this blue. And pink doesn't match it."

"The set is over there, see if you can find something useful." he pointed to his bookshelf behind him.

"Thank you!" Mana cheered and jumped off the floor.

The rustling of the plastic cover let Atem know she found it.

Amongst other things.

He heard her take in a sharp breath, and immediately regretted not looking for it himself. What did she find that got her surprised?

"It's here."

He turned to face her, seeing that she had the red envelope in her hands. She stared at it, her hands shaking.

Something was wrong.

_ I knew overthinking would screw me over at some point! _

"Yeah, I must have put it next to the other colored papers. It's such a bright red, you know..." Atem said, letting out a forced chuckle.

Mana met his eyes then. "You had this. Where... How did you find it?"

He wasn't supposed to have it? Atem was confused but he answered nonetheless. "Yugi did, actually. A few days ago we were playing this video game and he found it lying under the couch." He averted his eyes, trying not to sound weird. "I thought you left it and then it accidentally fell off the table or something."

It showed that Mana was not aware of this. Her mouth kept opening and closing as she tried to think of an answer.

"I thought you knew," he added. "I'm sorry if you didn't want me to read it. It had my name on it and all..."

Mana kept her eyes on the envelope for a few seconds, deep in her thoughts. Then her face fell, hard.

"It's okay, I was supposed to give it to you anyway. All this time I was searching everywhere. You just saved me the trouble of explaining that I lost it." she said in a nonchalant way, and put the letter aside.

"Explaining?"

Mana pulled a green paper from the bag, not meeting his gaze. "Miho gave the letter to me to give it to you, she knew we would be working together." Her eyes were focused on the work in front of her, she missed seeing the blood drench from his face. "I thought I lost it, but I must have dropped it here somehow."

"It's-"

"She really likes you," Mana said with a flat tone.

By some divine miracle, Atem spoke up. "I thought it was from you." They weren’t the wisest words but if there was a chance...

Mana stopped, again staring off. After a few seconds, she finally looked at him again. "It's not, but I can see why you would think that."

Atem fell silent. She was dead serious in her words.

So that time when Tea said Mana and Miho were giggling and talking? When Mana asked if he was single? Was she asking for Miho back then?

But  _ they _ had worked together. They had shared parts of work, studied and memorized together. They had chatted nonstop during all of their classes, shared a cake, smiled and winked at each other. That wasn't Miho, that was  _ Mana _ . He had walked to Mana's home, Mana had invited him in, Mana had hugged him.

So he had misjudged everything. She was being her usual friendly self, and Atem had gone and believed she returned his feelings.

Mana cracked a small smile. "I think you should give her a chance. She's been thinking of ways to get your attention for months. And she worked hard on that letter, it's just for you. She didn't even show it to me."

She stood up and reached for her bag. She was leaving for the day, the unfinished poster not even on her mind. And he wasn't going to stop her. Mana looked like she was drained of energy.

"You know, Atem... I think we've gotten really close this week, and as your friend I would like to ask that you talk to Miho. She is an extraordinary girl, and to be liked by someone as charming and pretty as her is a blessing."

Atem cleared his throat. "If you think she's that good."  _ No need to give her the cold shoulder now.  _ She had just tried to help her friend, he was the one that got it wrong.

Atem stood up from his chair. "I'll see you out." He grabbed the coat that was spread over his bed and walked downstairs with her. He helped her wear her coat and held her bag as she put on her shoes.

"Be careful on your way back. Are you sure you want to go alone? I don't mind joining you." Atem asked, but Mana hastily shook her head.

"No need. I'm fine."

Atem handed the bag to her and looked down at his feet.

He felt sad. Not heartbroken, just upset. He was an idiot for lifting his hopes up. Mana was friendly like this with everyone. And she had tried to be close to him as well. But that was it. Maybe Miho forced her into this friendship as well.

"Atem."

He looked up, and there Mana was, smiling at him again. This time her eyes were also smiling. The glow on her face was proof that she was out of this world. His heart clenched.

"Did you take me out because of the letter?" she asked, his reply was a nod.

"I thought it was the right thing to do."

Except for the fact that he had been counting days on when they would finally go on a date. To be fair though, it  _ was _ the letter that gave him the courage.

"It was. It was really sweet of you to take the time out of your day to get to know me better. I was just not the right girl. And now that I know you can treat Miho well, I can rest assured."

But the problem itself was Miho. He wanted to treat Mana. He had known both of them for a long time, and had vastly different thoughts about them. For instance; Miho attracted a lot of guys already, and her interest in men changed frequently. She certainly didn't need him. Her letter was an act of desperation. Maybe she just couldn't accept being rejected.

Or maybe he was completely wrong and Miho genuinely loved him. Just like Atem couldn't see anyone else but Mana.

"I had fun this week. We should do all of the things we did again. Except the studying." Mana chirped, interrupting his thoughts and causing Atem to smile involuntarily.

"I’m looking forward to it."

Mana quickly opened the door and waved at him. "See you on Monday!" she said and rushed out of the door.

This time he definitely heard it. Her voice cracked at the end of her sentence.

Either his mind was playing tricks on him, or Mana was equally sad that he found out the letter was from someone else.


	6. Saturday

The buzzing of her phone had not stopped once ever since she told Miho what happened yesterday. Mana dropped the letter, Atem found it, asked Mana if it was hers, Mana told him it was from Miho.

She altered the story a bit so that Miho didn't get cross with her. And she still had yet to shut up about it. It was rude to think of her friend like that but Mana was in no condition to think about Miho's problems at the moment.

She dipped her head deep in her pillow and squeezed her animal plushie to find some relief in it.

No matter how many times she had tried to convince herself that it was nothing, it hurt even more. She had pent up so many different emotions inside her and it was coming all out at once.

She was angry at herself for letting Miho claim Atem like she did, angry at herself for not speaking up. Happy that Atem considered the idea of dating her, happy for all the times they spent together. She was conflicted; she wanted Miho to be happy, and she wanted Atem to be happy but she hated the idea of them being happy together. She was sad because instead of just saying she actually liked him too she had run off like a coward.

Mana kicked the blanket away with her feet.

_ I wish  _ I _ had written him a love letter too. _

What would've happened if she had stayed silent? He already thought it was from her. He hadn't rejected it. Instead, he had taken her out on a date. It was beautiful. The place was cozy, their table was a little distant from the crowd, almost as if they were alone. They had eaten from the same plate. Told each other silly memories and harmless secrets. Never breaking the strong eye contact.

Never in her life she would have imagined something like that from Atem. Sure, he was a gentleman but he often avoided long talks with her. It was the letter that had changed him. So did that mean he was going to put distance between them again now?

Her phone ringed, and she groaned loudly. The last person she wanted to talk to was Miho.

Mana did everything for her. They were friends after all. She helped Miho and Miho helped her. And when Miho said she was thinking of asking Atem out, she kept it quiet. Since Atem had shown no signs of interest in Mana, there was nothing she could do. Especially when Miho was every guy's dream girl. Helping her was the right choice.

Every day Mana bit down on her lip and listened to Miho go on and on about how handsome Atem was, and that she loved the color of his eyes and blah blah blah. Yes, he was a sight to look at but he was incredibly smart as well. He excelled at both History and Mathematics, he always aced his exams, he was an exemplary student; and he read people easily, could come up with strategies on the spot as well.

His art was really bad though, she still had her old sketchbook from middle school that had his wonky doodles all over in them.

Nobody is perfect. Mana had accepted Atem as he was. She accepted all of him. Miho thought about how "cute" they would look together side by side.

Mana had never realized how careless Miho was with relationships until she claimed Mana's own love. It just broke her heart.

Atem deserved someone that loved him like Mana loved him. Maybe he didn't like her, but she at least hoped he would be with someone that loved him unconditionally.

Miho had yet to find her own someone special. And until then she was trying out space holders.

Nonetheless Mana kept it all to herself. She erased any romantic thoughts of Atem from her mind. She couldn't love him or like him. Even though Miho was not the best at dating, she was still kind and pure at everything else. She cared for Mana. And Mana cared for her. That is why she had to bury her feelings deep down. Pray that Miho wouldn't use him. Pray that Atem wouldn't reject her.

Everything would have been fine if it weren't for that one thing he said.

Mana whimpered. "He thought it was from me..."

He had found the letter, intrigued by Miho's loving words (she still didn't know what Miho wrote but it had to be something special). He thought it was Mana that touched his soul, and changed his entire behavior towards her. He smiled at her more often, talked to her, asked how her day was going, took her out, walked with her, shared with her. All of that, just because of some stupid letter.

Hear heart was broken into millions of pieces. The slightest hope of being with Atem was gone. He wasn't into her. He had fallen in love with the words, he loved the person who wrote him the heartfelt letter. Unfortunately, it wasn't Mana.

She sighed heavily, and turned to her other side.

"I like you Atem Moto. This is the only time and place I'm allowed to say it out loud, but I really do."

They were a good team, but they would have made an even better couple.


	7. Sunday

Nausea sat in his stomach, his hand trembled. This was a bad idea. He hadn't prepared a single thing to say to Mana, yet he was quick to jump up to his feet and come to her door.

It was weird standing there, contemplating whether to ring the doorbell or not. It felt right when he stepped out of the house and walked all the way there. But actually standing in the doorway made his head spin.

Just deciding if this would be romantic or creepy had taken him a few hours, he should have used his time to think about what he was going to say too.

He was already there though. Might as well get it over with, right? There was nothing he could lose. There is no right or wrong when it comes to love, telling her his feelings should do the job.

A little hesitant, he pushed the button and listened to the bell.

"Coming!" A familiar voice chirped, footsteps got closer. "Who is it?"

"Uh... Atem."

Mana didn't respond for a good few seconds before answering. "Could you wait for a minute?"

"Sure." He had been standing there longer than a minute already. One more minute wouldn't hurt him.

It didn't take her that long, Mana opened the door to him shortly. "Welcome!"

"H-hey," Atem said stammering, then quickly composed himself. "I... I think you have my flash drive. I need to copy the presentation and the slide show to it." He blurted out and was satisfied with the response.

She smiled kindly. "I'll go get it. You can come inside if you'd like."

Mana opened the door wider for him before running upstairs and he followed, thinking he could start a conversation better indoors. That, and he didn't want Mana to smack the door on his face once he started talking. She wasn't a girl who would do that but it was better to stay at the safe side.

Her room was crowded, despite it being small. Vibrant mismatched colors everywhere. Walls covered with her art. Fluffy, sparkling, dainty stuff covered her furniture. Lots and lots of stuffed toys.

She pushed everything from her desk and grabbed her pencil case. His flash drive was in it, she handed it to him. "Here you go."

He stared at her hand for a bit too long before taking it and didn't miss when she rose an eyebrow at him.

"Thanks."

"No problem," Mana mumbled, literally throwing her pencil case back into the clutter on her desk. He didn't move for a while, so she had to steer the conversation. "So... I finished the poster. Wanna take a look?"

Atem blinked away his cowardice and replied bluntly. "Yes, but maybe later." He cleared his throat and met her eyes. "The flash drive is not the only thing I came for. There's something I want to tell you."

Waiting and thinking didn't help. If he didn't do it right then and there he would never have the heart or courage to do it again. He was going to be done with it.

"What is it about?"

"Miho."

Mana made an unamused face and looked away. "She didn't give you her number in that letter? I'm shocked."

"No no, that's not what I meant. You said I should go for it and all... I don't think I will. I get it, you want to support your friend but she's not my type."

Surprisingly, Mana looked interested. "Really? I thought she was everyone's type."

"Not mine. She's alright, but even as friends there was something that made me drift away from her. I actually cut a lot of my friendships from middle school and Miho was one of them for a reason. Don't worry though, I'm not here to trash talk about her. I just wanted to make sure you wouldn't hate me, knowing I'm going to reject your friend."

"Hate you?" Mana asked in disbelief. She pulled the mountain of pillows away to make room for them on her bed, so they could sit. "I wouldn't hate you for that. You're free to date whoever you like. You don't have to be with Miho if that's what you want."

"I know," he said, sinking into her soft comforter. "And that's not all."

"It's not?" Mana reached her hand to grab a plushie to hold onto.

"I.. kind of lied to you."

Suddenly her eyes fixated on his as if she was looking into his soul. It was quite intimidating, Atem didn't know she had it in her. "What did you lie about?"

Atem took a deep breath, steadying his nerves.  _ This is it. _ "When you asked me if I took you out because of the letter I said 'yes'. But really that had very little to do with it. I mean, it helped. I needed a real push, and the letter did a fine job."

When she opened her mouth to respond, Atem silenced her again, dropping his head.

"Please, let me finish this first. It was easier for me to talk to you when I thought you liked me..."

He winced, hesitantly looking into her eyes.

"...back."

Her eyes searched his for any signs of mockery. "You-"

"I have feelings for you." Atem confessed, straightening his back and freeing himself of the excruciating weight of keeping it to himself for all these years. "That's it. I really like you. I thought you were the coolest girl I've ever met back then, I enjoyed every minute we spent together. I hoped we would be in the same class the following year too. But... you know... we grew up. My thoughts about you changed, I got confused and next thing I knew, I couldn't even form full sentences around you. My face would heat up, I would stand in front of you tongue tied. I hated it."

"That's why you shut me off?" Mana asked, clearly angry. "You started liking me more than usual and decided to not talk to me anymore?"

"I didn't mean to! I didn't know how to control my emotions or what they meant. Being around you made my chest tighten. I fumbled with my words, became an absolute klutz, just couldn't concentrate on anything. I was scared and annoyed. I didn't know what to do." Atem took in a big breath. "I thought it would be best if I wasn't around you."

Mana looked down at her stuffed toy, her fingers fiddling with its soft fur. "If you had just pinched my arm or stuck a piece of gum in my hair like a normal boy does to his crush I would have known, okay? It's not that hard." she mumbled to herself, then heard Atem make a noise that was supposed to be a suppressed laugh. "But boys with emotions are the stupidest human beings, so I'll let it slide this one time."

Not thinking it over, Atem reached his hand to hold Mana's. "I'm sorry I distanced myself from you out of nowhere. I've been trying to talk to you more and more each day though. I would love to be as close as we were in eighth grade."

He noticed that between the mass of hair, her eyes were glued to their conjoined hands. Mana slowly raised her head, her face color of pink that he had never seen on her. "That would be nice." she quietly said, it made Atem smile.

Now content that he said what he wanted, Atem sighed, retracting his hand from hers, before she squeezed his hand. He stopped, looking away. "Again, I'm sorry if my confession was too out of the blue. It's just that, I'm not interested in Miho, I've been in love with you for so long, I can't imagine being with anyone else at this point."

"In love?" Mana blinked at him, her mouth agape. "That's a strong word."

"I don't mean to frighten you, and I can't say I'm expecting much from you. But I told you this much, might as well confess properly, right?" Atem smiled, insistent on not making eye contact.

"Atem..." Mana moved to hold his hand in hers, her thumbs pressing into his palm. "I'm not frightened. You're kind and sweet. I couldn't be afraid of you."

His fingers curled around hers. "It must be overwhelming for you."

"Can I take you out on a date?"

Atem's eyes dared to look up. "A date?"

Mana showed him a toothy smile. "Yes, this one will be labeled as a date. We could... share another slice of cake and I'll tell you a story that will leave  _ you _ overwhelmed. Spoiler alert; it's about how you managed to lure me into your trap."

"My trap?" Did she mean what Atem thought she meant? It couldn't be. This was Mana. She wouldn't like him that easily. He was sure of it. "What did I lure you into?"

Mana grinned, and without missing a beat she reached forward to plant a kiss on his cheek. "Having this huge crush on you of course, what else?" She didn't give him time to understand what was going on. "But that is a story I will only tell on our date, if you accept it."

"O-Okay." Atem let out and didn't mind when Mana giggled at him. "It's a date."


End file.
